UNICEF Nigeria Representative, Peter Hawkins has expressed relieve on the release of the schoolboys in Kagara, Niger State describing the development as a positive outcome.
In a release made available to news men in Bauchi on Saturday, Peter Hawkins stated that, “I am relieved to receive the long-awaited news of the release of 27 students of the Government Science College in Kagara abducted from their school over a week ago and I look forward to their safe return to their families.”
The UNICEF Representative added that, “As the freed students return to their families, I commiserate with the family of their fallen school mate, Benjamin Habila, who was shot dead during the overnight attack on the school. My thoughts and prayers are with the family of Benjamin, who have suffered a huge loss.”
“The Kagara school attack – like that of Government Girls’ Secondary School Jangebe in Zamfara State, Friday, and others before it – shouldn’t have happened in the first place because children shouldn’t be the target of attacks, least of all in a place they ought to feel safe – a school”, he lamented.
He further stated that, “Attacks on educational facilities are a grave violation of children’s rights. Children should never be the target of attack – and yet, far too often in Nigeria, they are precisely that – victims of attacks on their schools.”
According to Peter Hawkins, “Such attacks not only negate the right of children to an education, they also make children fearful of going to school, and parents afraid to send their children to school. Schools must be safe places to study and develop, and learning should not become a perilous endeavour.”
He concluded that, “As we welcome the news of the release of the abducted Kagara students, I urge government to expedite action on the release and safe return of the kidnapped students of Government Girls Secondary School Jangebe, and all abducted school children yet to be released.”
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